Daniel Ricciardo has said that he struggled to decide whether to quit from Formula 1 during the previous season.

Oscar Piastri, another Australian driver, was able to join the team because the AlphaTauri driver’s McLaren contract was canceled a year early.

Because of this, Ricciardo won’t have a place for the 2023 season. As a result, he disclosed that he considered giving up racing during this difficult time of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, the Honey Badger acknowledged feeling like a new person when the chance to succeed Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri presented itself.

A year ago, as I sat here, I thought, ‘Maybe this is my final race?’ I don’t mean to overstate the situation. I was genuinely ignorant. Sincerely, I believed the odds were 50/50, Ricciardo stated.

In order to move past the hand damage and enjoy the year I’ve had. I simply feel like I’ve been born again. I have a new lease on life and feel invigorated.”

Ricciardo also considered how, although he hadn’t realized it at first, the time off had really helped him.

“I think that would have been no problem if I had a whole 12 months off, if I hadn’t raced at all this year,” Ricciardo continued. “Because I found that taking time off was incredibly beneficial and gave me a lot.”

Thankfully, I was able to locate enough within those six months. Had you inquired in January, “So, you’re planning to start working at AlphaTauri in Budapest?” What is your emotional state? “Well, I’m probably not ready, I need more time,” is what I would have answered.

But at that moment, everything was just much more logical. Even though I qualified for the 14th place or something, driving the vehicles seems like fun again.